Tailoring 1940s dresses yourself

What you need:

• 2 fabrics approx. 1.50 to 1.50
• zipper
• Buttons
• Sewing kit

Typical in the style of the 40s

• Remember that in the 1940s there was war in large parts of the world and after 1945 almost all of Europe was in ruins. Festive clothing was often only designed, but never tailored. Even fashion shows were often presented with 30 cm tall dolls because there wasn't enough fabric.
• The typical clothing of the 1940s was reduced to a minimum, the dresses ended at the knee, even evening dresses at the calf. Shiny floor-length dresses were only shown in films.
• If you want to sew yourself a night dress of this time, you should sew a narrow dress that has a small angular neckline but no collar and ends at the calf.
• You can make a cape for this, because instead of coats, capes were worn, and buttons were also in short supply.

Sewing night clothes in the style of this time

Due to the lack of fabric, it was typical in the 1940s when clothes were sewn from different fabrics. sew Therefore, the top and the skirt are made of different fabrics.

1. You can make the cut for a skirt yourself. Sew it from 4 trapezoidal lengths. The short side of the trapezoid is 1/4 of your waist circumference, the longer side about 1/4 of 1.5 times the circumference of your waist. The height of the trapezoid is the length from the waist to the middle of the calf plus 4 cm for the hem. You will find that so very little fabric is required for the skirt.
2. Sew the 4 panels together except for a small piece. They put a zipper in the resulting slit. Either sew a waistband to the skirt or secure the zipper with a hook and eye.
3. Find yourself a cut of one Shirt blouse or another tight-fitting blouse. But do not sew a collar on the blouse. Instead, cut bias tape out of the fabric to neaten the neckline. Cut all other parts after the cut. Let the sleeves end roughly in the middle of the upper arm. Also finish the sleeves with bias tape later.
4. If you are a bit skilled in changing pattern pieces, then enlarge the arm balls so that you can only use the sleeves gathered, similar to puff sleeves. That gives broad shoulders that go with the style of 1940s dresses.
5. Incidentally, sew the top part according to the pattern by sewing the pattern pieces together right sides together. By the way, it is easier to insert sleeves if you only close the shoulder seam at first. Then sew the sleeves into the armhole. Finally, the sleeve seam and the side seam of the top are closed in one go.
6. If you want to overcast something with bias tape, sew it from the right just below the edge of the pattern, iron the tape to the left. Fold it inwards once and attach it with hem stitches.
7. If you do not sew the top to the skirt, you can wear it over the skirt or by tucking it into the waistband.
8. To form a visual unit between the skirt and the top, you can use the sleeves and the neckline with the fabric of the skirt or sew a large bow from this fabric and under the neckline set.

The rockabilly style with petticoat or the new look with the wide swinging skirts did not emerge until the very end of the 1940s or in the 50s.